What Would Jimmy Do?

Shepherdstown doesn’t have a traffic light. There are a couple outside of town, but none in Shepherdstown itself. When we moved here from Northern Virginia, there were traffic lights everywhere and any time you went any where, you had to factor in the amount of time you’d be waiting at traffic lights.

When the  town I grew up in (Maysville) was thriving, it was almost a big as Shepherdstown, and they actually installed a traffic light. It was only there for a few months — the residents just couldn’t handle all the new technology and the hassle of only being able to go when some light said it was ok. The light in Maysville only had red and green lights. It hung in the middle of the only “busy” intersection in town and had two bulbs. When the top bulb was lit the light showed red in two directions and green in two directions. When the light “changed” the other bulb on the bottom came on and then the red and green directions were reversed. There was no warning — it just changed.

The invention of the traffic signal is attributed to Lester Wire, a Detroit policeman in 1912. His light was a two-color, red-and-green light with a buzzer to warn pedestrians ahead of the impending transition. Apparently Maysville had one of Lester Wire’s lights — but without the buzzer. Wire’s basic design was modified by another policeman, Williams Potts, to include the three colors (red, amber and green) used in lights today.
Of course Maysville never could get past the two colors — goodness knows how they would have reacted to a traffic light with three colors….
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I was privileged to make a speech at Kelly’s wedding a number of years ago. The object of the talk, as I understood it, was to give the newlyweds some words of advice — something that would be of help to them as they started out their new life together. I remember rambling on a bit, but I do believe I gave them good, practical advice for meeting challenges that they would face often. In fact, I gave them advice that I’d followed for many years, and it served me well. So I thought as a public service, I’d put that advice in a flow chart for my faithful readers. Trust me, it’ll get you through a lot of sticky, and un-sticky. situations. You’re all welcome.

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Well, here it is Valentine’s Day again — last year Valentine’s Day fell on Ash Wednesday, presenting a dilemma for some people. It wasn’t a problem for us, because as I’ve mentioned in the past, we never celebrate Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s Day.

Every year around Valentine’s Day, I write something about the holiday and like a lot of the holidays that repeat, I’m running out of things to write. I usually include some facts about the day, like:
The first Valentine’s Day candy box was invented by Richard Cadbury in the late 19th century. Or, every Valentine’s Day, the Italian City of Verona receives approximately 1,000 letters that have been addressed to Juliet. This is where Romeo and Juliet, the young lovers in Shakespeare’s play, lived. Or maybe the fact that penicillin was introduced on February. 14 in 1929 — if you give this some serious thought it’s appropriate or ironic or something like that.

But I thought this year I might just pass along some useful information that a lot of people may not be aware of…. it may be a little late for this year, but tuck it away for next year.
You and your loved one can share romance at White Castle. You read that right — the fast-food burger chain takes reservations (via Open Table) for February 14.
The reservations include perks like hostess seating, music, table side service and decorations. White Castle said that last year, more than 30,000 customers enjoyed their Valentine’s Day experience. Many people have shared stories about meeting the loves of their lives, or forming lifelong friendships at White Castle. And — for those who’d rather be romantic in the privacy of their homes, White Castle offers a Valentine’s Day experience delivered to their customers.

I pass along this information as a public service… but no matter where you choose to celebrate, I hope you have a great time. I should mention that around our house, that Valentine’s Day is also a reminder that Christmas Decorations have to come down soon…
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The controversy at the top of the Virginia government over yearbook photos continues with no universally accepted resolution in sight. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has said he wasn’t going anywhere, despite calls for him to resign. In an interview with Gayle King of CBS This Morning, Northam said that 400 years have passed since the “first indentured servants from Africa landed on our shores.” Ms. King said, “Also known as slavery.” His response was “yeah.”
After the interview, Mr. Northam said that during a recent speech he referred to the indentured servants as enslaved. He said, “A historian advised me that the use of indentured was more historically accurate. The fact is, I’m still learning and committed to getting it right.”
I realized that I wasn’t sure either, so my extensive research kicked in… this is what I found.

Indentured servants first arrived in America in the decade following the settlement of Jamestown by the Virginia Company in 1607. The idea of indentured servitude was born because of a need for cheap labor. The earliest settlers realized that they had lots of land to care for, but no one to care for it.
The Thirty Year’s War had left Europe’s economy depressed, and many skilled and unskilled laborers were without work. The Virginia Company developed the system of indentured servitude to attract those workers. A new life in the New World offered a glimmer of hope; between one-half and two-thirds of the immigrants who came to the American colonies arrived as indentured servants.

Servants typically worked four to seven years in exchange for passage, boarding, and lodging. While the life of an indentured servant was harsh and restrictive, it wasn’t slavery. According to many historians, for those that survived the work and received their freedom package, they were better off than the new immigrants who came freely to the country. Their contract may have included at least 25 acres of land, a year’s worth of corn, arms, a cow and new clothes.

It was not until 1619 the first black Africans came to Virginia. Initially, they were treated as indentured servants and given the same opportunities for freedom as whites. However slave laws were soon passed and any small freedoms that might have existed for blacks were taken away. As demand for labor in the colonies grew, so did the cost of indentured servants. Many landowners also felt threatened by newly freed servants demand for land. Landowners soon turned to African slaves as a more profitable and ever-renewable source of labor and the shift from indentured servants to racial slavery began.

So — Indentured servants agreed to work for 4 – 7 years in exchange for transportation to the colonies. Slaves were brought to America against their will. There were slaves and indentured servants in all 13 colonies. Both worked at the same types of jobs — most worked without pay. Life was difficult for both — hours were long and hard. Indentured servants were eventually freed — most slaves were not.

I realize this is a much oversimplified description, but there are obvious differences. I think Governor Northam was right —he’s got a lot to learn. We all do…..
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Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday — the sixteenth president of the United States and president during the Civil War, he will forever be remembered by his inspirational rise to fame, his efforts to rid the country of slavery, and his ability to hold together a divided nation. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, and two outstanding inaugural addresses are widely regarded as some of the greatest speeches ever delivered by an American politician.

A few nights ago, Donald Trump again proclaimed that he is such a great president that the only predecessor he can be fairly compared to is Abraham Lincoln. Actually, there are are some similarities….
Both Lincoln and Trump were Republicans who defeated Democrats.
Lincoln suffered from depression‚ Trump finds many things “SAD!”
And of course they were/are both great orators, with inspiring quotes like:

“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced…. That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” — Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863 in Gettysburg.

“Why do we want all these people from [expletive] countries coming here?” — Donald Trump, Jan. 18, 2018, at the White House.

So, yea, there are some genuine parallels between Lincoln and Trump, but I think a number of years from now, historians will still be able to tell them apart…..
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When I was putting away this year’s Christmas decorations, I happened to look at one of the old, crumpled-up pieces of paper that has been used for packing to store the decorations for years. It was an article from the January, 1970 issue of Modern Mechanix magazine. I don’t know if the magazine is even in publication any more, but I remember reading it years ago. Here’s a bit of the article — remember, the year is 1970…..

“Computers for the home have been envisioned by science fiction writers and engineers ever since a huge, unwieldy prototype was developed 25 years ago. The whole futuristic age they prophesied, with an omnipotent electronic monster named Horace in every living room, is still a long way from realization, but compact consumer computers have quietly entered the household. While the market hardly rivals TV sets or refrigerators, the computer-as-home-appliance is now more than just a toy for the wealthy or a mysterious instrument for technical specialists.
Those pioneer families who have one, like the Theodore Rodmans of Ardmore, Pa., have discovered their obedient machine can perform a large variety of useful functions. Dr. Rodman originally brought it home for medical research, but then his family found it could also plan mortgage payments, help out with homework, even play with the children. Although the cost is still high, computers like theirs have come within possible reach of a two-car family budget. A small, self-contained model is available for $8,000, complete. The Rodmans’ computer system, called time-sharing, uses a Teletype terminal connected to a big central unit via telephone. It costs $110 a month to rent, plus $7.50 per hour of use.”

The article goes on to describe how the family used the computer — so much that Dr. Rodman had trouble getting the computer to use for his medical project. The article concludes with a quote from Mrs. Rodman, “When the medical project is over, we’ve decided to buy our own terminal. It’s certainly a better investment that an automobile.”

I’m not sure what the point of this is — maybe that the world has changed, but we all know that… maybe that our kids would read the article and not even believe that people could live like that. Or, maybe we should clean out all the old packing material around our Christmas decorations — that was a current magazine when we started using it for packing. I think I’ll start reading all the old papers protecting our Christmas treasures every year when I get them out — I might discover all sorts of thing… like maybe even some day we can put a man on the moon….
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I heard the phrase, ‘make hay while the sun shines’ yesterday. I hadn’t heard it in a long time. I think its been around forever and it may even be considered a proverb. It probably originated with Medieval English farmers. Before they had machinery, it would take farmers many days to cut, dry and gather hay and since hay can be ruined easily if it gets too wet, the farmers had to take advantage of hot, dry, sunny weather to cut and gather their hay. The phrase generally came to mean take advantage of circumstances before the chance slips away.

Speaking of hay, when I was growing up the farmers around Maysville grew a lot of hay. All the hay was cut and stored for use in rectangular bales. I never saw rolls or “round bales” of hay when I was living in Oklahoma. I helped with the hay baling operation a few times in high school — all the farmers had hay-baling machines that formed, and tied, the hay into those rectangular shapes. I remember that machinery being noisy, hard to maintain and vibrating a lot. The newer machines that roll the hay seem to be a little less complex and more reliable.

The round bales seem to be the choice of most farmers today. The round bales don’t cut the hay as much and therefore reduce waste — fewer cut ends soak up less water. Water can get into a rectangular bale of hay from the top (rain) or from soaking it up from the ground. The round shape reduces the ground exposure — less amount of the hay is sitting in direct contact with the ground. The round shape also allows a lot of the rain to run off instead of soaking in. Round bales are easier to feed out, you can just roll them along and the hay unravels.
So I guess that’s progress — rectangular bales of hay haven’t quite gone the way of the dial telephone or typewriters yet, but take note next time you see one — it might be your last….
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Last Tuesday evening, the President gave the annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1790. The State of the Union address is required by the U.S. Constitution. Article II, Section 3 states: The president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The Constitution doesn’t define “from time to time” but by tradition the president delivers his message once each year. Only two presidents never delivered a State of the Union address — William Henry Harrison and James Garfield. Both died before they had the chance to deliver their messages. The first radio broadcast of the address was in 1923 by President Calvin Coolidge. The first broadcast on television was Harry Truman’s address in 1947.

No matter what your view of the current president may be, the State of the Union address on Tuesday sounded mostly “presidential.” He started his speech by saying, “The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda.” He promised a new era of cooperation. He talked about infrastructure, lowering the cost of health care, protecting patients with preexisting conditions, eliminating HIV, and fighting childhood cancer. He indicated he was the first president to include a plan for nationwide paid family leave in his budget.
Hard to argue with any of that — even though, as far as I know, he hasn’t submitted his budget indicating how seriously any of the issues will be addressed. But it was at least nice to hear the President of the United States, for the most part, actually sound “presidential” for a change.
There were a lot of good lines delivered Tuesday night — of course it’s more important to see what this administration does than to listen to what was said during the State of the Union.
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Yesterday was the start of Chinese New Year — It was also the the beginning of Tet in Vietnam. The Tet holiday (known as Set Nguyen Dan in Vietnam) starts on the beginning of a new year based on the Chinese lunar calendar. In most of Vietnam, Lunar New Year celebrations last at least three days.

Many Americans hadn’t even heard of Tet prior to the Vietnamese War. Tet, the celebration of the lunar new year, is the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar. During the earlier years of the War in Vietnam the holiday had been the occasion for an informal truce between South and North Vietnam.

But in early 1968 the North Vietnamese military launched a coordinated offensive of surprise attacks — in the early morning of January 30, 1968, Viet Cong forces attacked 13 cities in central South Vietnam — just as many families began their observances of the lunar new year. The next day, Viet Cong forces struck other targets throughout South Vietnam, including cities, towns, government buildings and U.S. and/or ARVN military bases in more than 120 attacks. The attacks included a bold attack on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. The assault on the Embassy, and its initial success, stunned American and international observers, who saw images of the carnage broadcast “live and in color” on TV. Even though the offensive inflicted heavy Viet Con causalities and it failed to create the intended widespread rebellion among the South Vietnamese, the Tet Offensive proved to be a strategic success for North Vietnam.

Today in Hồ Chí Minh City (previously Saigon) there will be a lot of loud celebrations held to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune for the new year… but it’ll be a lot quieter than it was in 1968.
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Today (February 5th) is the beginning of the Chinese New Year — it is the year of the Pig and is the 4716th Chinese Year. One sixth of the world’s population celebrate it.

Faithful readers of this blog know that this is one of the many holidays we personally celebrate every year. Chinese New Year is the most important annually recurring festival for people of Chinese ancestry all over the world. It has been celebrated for over 1,000 years and the traditions involved are deeply ingrained in Chinese culture.

Chinese New Year is a joyful time for most Chinese, but not for everyone. In China, females are said to be marriageable up to age 30 and males before age 32. For “old” singles, parents are extremely anxious. So New Year’s Eve stress is heightened by embarrassing interrogations by the parents. To solve this problem an interesting solution has appeared — renting a boyfriend or girlfriend for the New Year. There are websites and agents that specialize in this business. To rent a girlfriend/boyfriend costs about 100 yuan ($16) a day.

Certain Chinese traditions are always followed for Chinese New Year, but there are also some “don’ts.” Clocks should not be given as presents, because they symbolize that time is running out; avoid the  use of sharp objects, as they might cut off good fortune and don’t wear black or tell ghost stories — that might bring about negative energy. The Year of the Pig is a year of fortune and luck! Happy Chinese New Year.
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